Upendra is an Indian actor and director known primarily for his work in Kannada cinema. He began his career writing dialogues and lyrics for soundtrack in Kannada films.[1] He then started out as a director making his debut in 1992 with Tharle Nan Maga. In a career spanning over 25 years, he has directed 10 films and acted in over 60 films.
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Filmography
editKannada films
edit| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Roles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Anantana Avantara | Kamadeva | Cameo |
| Love Maadi Nodu | Doctor | Cameo | |
| 1991 | Ajagajantara | Groom | Cameo |
| 1993 | Shhh! | Fake Police officer | Also director Cameo |
| 1995 | Om | Deena | Also director Voiceover for Kote Prabhakar |
| Operation Antha | Bystander | Also director Cameo | |
| 1998 | A | Surya | Also director |
| 1999 | Upendra | Naanu | Also director |
| 2000 | Preethse | Chandru | |
| 2002 | H2O | Udayashankar Gowda | Kannada-Tamil bilingual |
| Super Star | Ricky / Deependra[a] | ||
| Nagarahavu | Ajay | ||
| Naanu Naane | Raja | ||
| Hollywood | Upendra / Surendra / Robot US47[b] | ||
| 2003 | Kutumba | Vijay | |
| Rakta Kanneeru | Mohan | ||
| Gokarna | Sidda | ||
| 2004 | Omkara | Sathya | |
| 2005 | Gowramma | Venkat Swamy | |
| News | Guru | ||
| Auto Shankar | Shankar | ||
| 2006 | Uppi Dada M.B.B.S. | Rao Bahaddur Upendra | |
| Thandege Thakka Maga | Sathya | ||
| Aishwarya | Abhishek Hegde | ||
| 2007 | Parodi | Vijay | Also lyricist |
| Masti | Siddappaji | ||
| Anatharu | Rudra | ||
| Lava Kusha | Chakri | ||
| 2008 | Budhivanta | Panchamrutha[c] | Seven roles |
| Mast Maja Maadi | Himself | Cameo | |
| 2009 | Dubai Babu | Babu | |
| Rajani | Rajani | ||
| 2010 | Super | Subhash Chandra Gandhi | Also director |
| 2011 | Shrimathi | Raj Kumar | |
| Maryade Ramanna | Cycle (voice) | Voice role[2] | |
| 2012 | Aarakshaka | Arun / Vishnu[a] | |
| Katari Veera Surasundarangi | Upendra / Mohan / Temporary Yama[b] | ||
| Godfather | Shiva / Ajay / Vijay[b] | ||
| Kalpana | Raghava | ||
| 2013 | Topiwala | Basak | |
| 2014 | Brahma | Brahma | |
| Super Ranga | Sriranga | ||
| 2015 | Shivam | Basavanna / Alexander[a] | |
| Uppi 2 | Naanu / Neenu[a] | Also director | |
| 2016 | Kalpana 2 | Raghava / Jade Shivu[a] | |
| Mukunda Murari | Mukunda | ||
| 2017 | Upendra Matte Baa | Upendra / Surendra[a] | |
| 2019 | I Love You | Santosh | |
| 2022 | Home Minister | Renuka Prasad | [3] |
| 2023 | Kabzaa | Arkeshwara | |
| 2024 | UI† | TBA | Also director Post-production[4] |
| Buddhivantha 2† | TBA | Completed[5] | |
| Thrishulam † | TBA | Filming[6][7] |
Other language films
edit| Year | Film | Roles | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Omkaram | Narrator in the first scene | Telugu | Also director |
| 1998 | Kanyadanam | Venkat | ||
| 2000 | Oke Maata | Sooryam | ||
| 2001 | Raa | Sridhar | ||
| 2002 | Neethone Vuntanu | Ravi | ||
| H2O | Udayashankar Gowda | Tamil | Kannada-Tamil bilingual | |
| 2007 | Toss | Neelakanta | Telugu | |
| 2008 | Satyam | Manickavel | Tamil | Tamil-Telugu bilingual film |
| Salute | Prathap Rudra | Telugu | ||
| 2015 | S/O Satyamurthy | Devaraj | ||
| 2022 | Ghani | Vikramaditya | ||
| 2025 | Coolie † | Kaleesha | Tamil |
As director and writer
edit| Year | Film | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | |||
| 1992 | Sriramachandra | Dialogues | ||
| Tharle Nan Maga |  |
|
Also choreographer | |
| 1993 | Shhh! | |
|
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| 1995 | Om | |
|
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| Operation Antha | |
|
||
| 1997 | Omkaram | |
|
Telugu film |
| 1998 | Swasthik | |
|
|
| A | |
|
||
| 1999 | Upendra | |
|
|
| 2001 | Raa | Screenplay | Telugu film | |
| 2002 | H2O | |
Kannada-Tamil bilingual | |
| Super Star | |
|||
| Hollywood | |
|||
| 2003 | Rakta Kanneeru | |
||
| 2010 | Super | |
|
|
| 2012 | Katari Veera Surasundarangi | |
||
| 2013 | Topiwala | |
||
| 2015 | Uppi 2 | |
|
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| 2024 | UI | |
|
|
As narrator
edit| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Ragini IPS | [8] | |
| 2022 | Ponniyin Selvan | Kannada dubbed version trailer | [9] |
Discography
edit| Year | Film | Song | Composer | Co-Singer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Upendra | "Uppiganta Ruchi Bere Illa" | Gurukiran | |
| 2002 | H2O | "Bida Byada", "Dil Ilde Love" | Sadhu Kokila | |
| 2002 | Nagarahavu | "Yaaking Aadthiye" | Hamsalekha | Anuradha Sriram |
| 2003 | Rakta Kanneeru | "Baa Baaro Rasika" | Sadhu Kokila | Sowmya Raoh |
| 2004 | Omkara | "Othla Othla" | Gurukiran | Shamitha Malnad |
| 2006 | Uppi Dada M.B.B.S. | "Makkar Maado Maliniye" | R. P. Patnaik | |
| 2006 | Aishwarya | "Yella Okay Madhuve Yaake" | Rajesh Ramanath | |
| 2007 | Parodi | "Rowdy Mele" | Rajesh Ramanath | |
| 2008 | Budhivanta | "Chitranna" | Vijay Antony | Sangeetha Rajeshwaran |
| 2010 | Super | "Sikkapatte Ishtapatte" | V. Harikrishna | |
| 2011 | Jogayya | "Thagalakonde" | V. Harikrishna | Priya Himesh |
| 2011 | Jarasandha | "Pade Pade Phone-inalli" | V Harikrishna | Priya Himesh |
| 2012 | Katari Veera Surasundarangi | "Muthinantha Muthondhu" | Harikrishna | |
| 2013 | Brindavana | "Oye Kalla" | Harikrishna | Indu Nagaraj |
| 2014 | Jai Lalitha | "Thorisabedammi" | Sridhar V. Sambhram | |
| 2014 | Super Ranga | "Ondsali Avala" | Harikrishna | |
| 2015 | Krishna-Leela | "Phoneammangu Simmappangu" | Sridhar V. | |
| 2015 | Uppi 2 | "Excuse Me Please" | Gurukiran | |
| 2016 | Kalpana 2 | "H2O Kudidivni" | Arjun Janya | Aishwarya Rangarajan |
| 2016 | Mukunda Murari | "I Am God, God is Great" | Arjun Janya | |
| 2019 | I Love You | "Life Ene T20" | Dr. Kiran Thaotambyle | Chethan Naik, Vasushree Halemane |
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Upendra started his career as a dialogue writer". The Times of India. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ "Review: Maryade Ramanna relies on Komal's comedy". Rediff.com. 26 September 2011.
- ^ "Uppi for Home Minister". The New Indian Express. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "Upendra stuns with an audio-only 'UI' teaser". The New Indian Express. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ "Upendra's 'Buddhivantha 2' is to release on this date". The New Indian Express. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ R, Shilpa Sebastian (9 January 2019). "On the sets of the film 'Ravi Chandra'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ "Upendra: ರವಿಚಂದ್ರನ್-ಉಪೇಂದ್ರ ಕಾಂಬಿನೇಷನ್ನ ಸಿನಿಮಾಕ್ಕೆ ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ಶೀರ್ಷಿಕೆ ಚೇಂಜ್!". Vijaya Karnataka (in Kannada). Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ "Upendra lends voice for Kannada film 'Ragini IPS'". ibnlive.com. 8 October 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ^ "These star heroes give voice-over for Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan – 1 | Latest Telugu cinema news | Movie reviews | OTT Updates, OTT". 27 September 2022.